Interest building in Tosa: CRE Guide - Community Spotlight

With groundbreakings imminent for projects such as the Mayfair Collection and the 25,000-square-foot technology accelerator at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Innovation Park and an announcement that Nordstrom will build a store at Mayfair Mall, a lot is happening in Wauwatosa.

In addition, Zilber Property Group has proposed building a 95,000-square-foot office building at Innovation Park, with ABB Ltd. as the main tenant. The city has discussed housing options on a parcel in the park that includes the historic Eschweiler buildings with developer Mandel Group, but a formal proposal has not been submitted.

The 250,000-square-foot first phase of the Mayfair Collection, at West Burleigh Street and Highway 45, has signed tenants including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nordstrom Rack and Ulta. Meijer is proposing to build a 157,000-square-foot store near the development.

Froedtert Hospital also plans to build a 480,000-square-foot addition for its heart and vascular and transplant centers at its Wauwatosa campus.

“I think we went through a terrible recession where dollars dried up for developers to do much of anything,” said Mayor Kathy Ehley.

The recent activity shows that investors are “feeling more confident to get behind projects like this,” she said. “I think it’s a good sign for the economy.”

Ehley answered questions from The Business Journal about new commercial developments in Wauwatosa and other development related issues.

Q: What projects have been proposed or approved at Innovation Park?

A: “It’s really an exciting vision that (UWM) is coming up with and working with the city. We work very closely with them. What’s been approved is the roadway and the accelerator building. The accelerator building is a university building, but it is a property taxed parcel. That’s been approved and the groundbreaking should be in the next few weeks. We’re almost finished with the approval process, if things go well, for the Zilber project. As soon as that final approval is done, they’ll be breaking ground hopefully in early April. So there’s a lot going on right there.

“We have no formal proposal for the residential section and the Eschweiler Buildings, but we’ve had lots of conversations with a developer (Mandel Group), who is interested in doing the residential there. The Forest Exploration Center nonprofit is interested in opening a charter school and has now approached the Mandel Group and the city about doing something in the Eschweiler buildings. They’ve been given time to do their due diligence and see what the feasibility is on a major fundraising campaign, so they’re working on that. We anticipate that within the next three or four months we’ll have a better sense of what the potential is on that.”

Q: Is there a chance that both Mandel Group and the Forest Exploration Center could coexist on that site?

A: “Absolutely. That’s what’s being investigated right now. And it would be an interesting not-for-profit project because it marries that preservation and to have an educational institution. Those buildings were for the School of Agriculture, but really only existed that way I think for about 10 years. It would be very interesting to see how for all these years no one’s found a good purpose for those buildings. If this is something that works out, it would just be really fascinating that it would come back to that educational purpose.”

Q: Has a developer been selected to redevelop properties on the northwest corner of Underwood and Harmonee avenues that include the former fire station, and what impact would a development have on the village?

A: “This is going through the Community Development Authority. There is no formal decision yet, but of the three projects that were submitted in response to the RFP, the CDA has a preferred developer (Blair Williams and Sean Phelan). It’s a really complex project and they’re still working through the details on size and scope and identifying a funding gap. So there’s a lot that has to be worked out before that would proceed. The other complexity on this one is the former fire station parcel is a small parcel, and the developers that came through with proposed plans, all of them came through with plans for multiple parcels. So it’s assembling those different parcels.

“The concept in the village plan was multi-use for that area, knowing that it would certainly help tie the business and the customer flow across Harmonee Avenue, because when that was put through in the early ‘80s it actually came through that was an existing business area. It has potential. If the right retail was in there, it would support and create a cluster corner in that area.”

Q: Why do you believe Nordstrom chose Mayfair Mall over other sites in the metro area and what impact will that have on the community?

A: “I’ve known for years that they’ve been interested. I think it’s been 20 years that there’s been an interest there, and they’ve not moved into Wisconsin. To me, the reason is location, the constant stability of Mayfair, the management, and to be able to have high-quality desirable stores. It just makes perfect sense. It’s so centrally located for the whole regional area, and Nordstrom is a store that draws from a region, not just from the smaller surrounding area.”

Q: A ban on formula restaurants, those with 11 or more locations, has been proposed for the east section of North Avenue. Do you support the concept and what do you think of the development that’s occurring there?

A: “It’s really exciting to see some of the businesses that are coming in. It’s been a long time, a lot of effort has gone on that, and I give credit to the residents who have been so engaged over the last five or six years. The formula restaurant (proposal), I’m still investigating on that one, I do know it takes a lot to support to grow an area to make it even more desirable to businesses opening up there, so we’re still in conversations. I think a business association would be very helpful for them to get some support. I understand the spirit of it. I need to learn more about it. What concerns me is there are some restaurants that fall into that greater than 11 that really are nice for small business districts and I just want to make sure that we’re not sending out a message that these places wouldn’t even consider to come to us.”